My new Ice Cream Maker

What could be better than homemade ice cream I never could understand all the fuss over it, I like the store boughten stuff any time, never was one for homemade until I came across this website thefamilyhomestead, I absolutely love the site she makes just about everything from scratch and she is always making home made ice cream so I thought I would try it with her recipe, it just so happen Wal-mart was having a clearance on the one I wanted so I bought it. So far we have had Vanilla & Chocolate, it makes a gallon, a little more expensive but a whole lot better for you I mean if your gonna splurge on fattening stuff why not have the real stuff. Last week they had spartan ice cream for $1.99 that I think is a pretty good price and I would have bought it and I happen to think spartan ice cream taste good but I just walked away knowing I would feel guilty if I gave that stuff to my kids, have you ever looked at the ingredients in ice cream some of the words I can't even pronounce. I'm not saying I would never buy the stuff again but for now I'm enjoying homemade.

Mackinaw camping

We had one of the most beautiful weekends ever to go camping. We left Thursday & stayed up at Mill Creek up in Mackinaw right next to the water. This picture is right across the street from our camp.






These two pic's are of the sunrise, it was awesome to watch it come up over the water.


No one ever goes hungry, Fred will always make a big breakfast, see our cool looking 3 burner, it has been used a lot, it's also great for canning on in the garage.



Look they even gave him his own little resturant



This is all us over on the Island we went with Beth & Eric and there family.



The kids like the ferry ride, on the way over there we where on top, & it got a little cold, we rode inside on the way back



Of course I had to stick this one in, this is the store I worked at one summer after high school it still looks the same.



It doesn't matter how many times I have gone over this bridge, it still scares the gee willes out of me., I tried to take a picture of it at night when it is all lite up but it wouldn't turn out.



It was a great little vacation making memories with my family.

Homeschooling 101

This year will be our first year to homeschool, a big change for our family. We are starting on a new adventure. After much prayer and a peace within we all feel this is what we want to do. The first week was quite the adventure, between appointments and having not a cule what I'm doing as far as a schedule we did alright. We have a cirriculum I think is great, the kids just do so many pages a day out of each subject and then they are done with the main stuff. Emily pretty much does it all on her own, Collin & Jesse are more hands on which I have been learning right along with them, that is one thing that I have found is I know exactly what they are learning and I can be more involved.

We went to our first back to school, homeschooling party,we met new friends and saw others their that we new and all the kids had a great time. We are planning as a big group to do field trips and some group activities together, so far their are around 35 kids ranging from preschool to high school.



I think their was over 20 kids in the pool.
It's great that we do have lots of friend and my kids are excited they got to know more.



I really am amazed how God is dealing with our family and how our lives are changing only for the good. I'm a firm believer in the verse Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have you," declares the Lord, "plans to give you hope and a future."
God is shaping our lives into a future he has designed for our family, all we have to do is trust and obey when he ask us to do something, A long story short God asked me to give him this next year to homeschooling my kids, He has been speaking to my heart for awhile, but along with that he has been speaking to the kids as well. It was the kids that approached me and said we want to be homeschooled. It was just a mixture of different events that has brought us to this point and I'm going to cheerish each day I have with my kids, they are my life and I enjoy being with them.




just a randome picture of Emily, Jesse, Aaron and Jessica

Birthday gifts

I absolutely love to bake, cook and have fun in the kitchen. A couple of months ago someone gave me this Sunbeam mixer and I thought it was the coolest thing, except when I used it I had to sit there and help the bowl spin around, but it still did a great job whipping up stuff
.
Of course everyone likes something new and I have been pricing a kitchen aid, (holy moly they are not cheap) so when Fred asked me what I wanted for my birthday jokingly I ask for a kitchen aid, but I really couldn't see spending that much money on something and I have been wanting a air popcorn machine also, so I asked for that instead after hearing about all the bad things about microwave popcorn I really couldn't bring myself to buy that stuff anymore and my kids are always asking for popcorn & making it on the stove was not exactly what my kids like, plus it was getting to be a drag standing in front of a stove and burning it half the time, so we are trying it out tonight (can't wait)


So after getting excited over that, then Fred walks in the house with this


Isn''t it pretty
You can't imagine how excited someone can get over something that makes you work in the kitchen, but for me I'm thinking about all the stuff I can make in this just today, I absolutely love it and the color is awesome I have a red kitchen so it looks great on my counter. Fred found it at a great price, so I'm not feeling guilty that he spent a lot of money on it. I have to admit he sure did surprise me (I love birthdays)

Baptism

Emily got baptized today, I'm very proud of you Emily

This is before the dunk


This is after the dunk


It was really awesome I got to be right there with her I thought I was going to cry, I usually get very emotional.

Brown City Camp

10 days of family, prayer, worship, ice cream, muddy roads (one day of that) awesome preaching, commitments, friends,(making new ones) carmel popcorn, funfair< that's just a few of the great things we experience every year at this great camp, I started going 14 years ago, and it is a high light of our summer we consider it a little taste of Heaven on earth, it's a place where we have tons of fun but also most importantly it's a place where God does a whole lot of heart && soul changing. I thought I would throw a few random pictures in the top one is Fred and the boys walking to service you can see the big tabernacle way up top, then comes some boys with wacky hair for the day,
I am so proud of Collin we did the 5k together it was his 1st one he didn't even train for it he did very well, we came across the finish line together.
This was our home for 10 days,I love my camper it was a gift from God,
the next picture is a few of Emily's friends and of course her brothers and Noah
Fred eating a whole lot of ice cream, the last night they really pour it on to get rid of hit(he didn't finish it) The next one is the 1st-6th grade kids about 300 of them singing on childrens night of course you can't see all of them, they fill the whole stage across the picture
only shows about 1/2.
All ready planning for next year.........

Gotta Love Garage Sales

The kids & I went to garage sales all day, we started out in Cass City then I had to head to Caro for a food pickup for Revive after that we went thur Reese stopped at a few sales their & I thought while I'm over this way I thought we should head over to Frankenmuth to pay Jesse's allergist stopped at a really good sale their, I got kitchen glasses there for $3.00 & Collin hit the mother load on name brand shirts, he's always been wanting & I won't buy them because the store prices are ridiculous, lots of Hollister, American Eagle & other nice clothes, Emily found a good amount of clothes also, Jesse was excited he found a lava lamp. O.K. so then I thought we are all the way over here and I absolutely love Culver's so I treated the kids to lunch, they have the best custard ice cream, then hit a few more sales. It wasn't until we got home that Emily found this in a purse that she bought, of course what do you do it's a hour drive away, how often do we get over that way, if I new their address I would send it back, we went to so many that I'm not sure if I even know where the house is, what do you do?

1st place Masters Trophy

Masters Female winner trophy



I was not expecting to get this trophy, I just wanted to finish and that I did.
They call it the Masters Trophy which means I came in first, 40 and over, it pays to be older I didn't say old just older. But I'm very proud of myself, it was my first race, I was nervous about the whole thing, which was silly, For the first time since last September my knee had swollen up two days before the race, to the point I could hardly bend it, I iced it for 2 days and just prayed and thank God for letting me run as much as he allowed, funny thing is I was so nervous that I forgot all about my knee until the day after the race, now everything hurts, I believe God carried me thru and I have checked off another accomplishment in my life.

Dirt Biking Boys

I really didn't know what to call this blog, Fred had bought the boys a dirt bike & I was not to excited about it. I know it's a boy thing but I also know boys can get wild and want to show off on their new toys. So far we have had it a week and I have to say Collin rides pretty darn good and he is also very careful, knowing his friend just 2 weeks ago got hurt on a dirt bike & crashed and ended up having stitches just about in the same area as Collin. Jesse also takes it pretty slow he's still learning how to deal with a clutch, (Fred is a good teacher).


Do you see the cleaning bottle in Jesse's hand? I think the dirt bike is cleaner then their bedroom, but I have discovered that the dirt bike has been an incentive to get their bedroom a little cleaner

Sunshine Yellow

Emily has been wanting a new look to her bedroom, it use to be two toned purple, I agree it is time to up date, but I wasn't expecting the color she wanted. Yellow, I'm thinking pale yellow or lemon yellow, not bright sunshine yellow with turqouise curtains and we painted all her furniture white. I have to say I do like it. It now looks like a teen room.

It doesn't look as bright on this web page, it is alot brighter.


It was a fun project to work on together

Weekend Camping

Not to many fish were caught, Fred caught this one


A bunch of us went up to Big Bend Park for the weekend, the weather was great, the mosquitoes were awful and the food, well lets just say no one went away hunger, it was good, always lots to eat and we even had our first smores of the summer. The river was right there so some of the guys went fishing and of course the boys played in the water, I thought the water looked slightly gross. I would have to say the best part of all was just hanging out with family, it's always fun being together.



If you look closely you can see the Redwings game playing complements of Kurt

Fun night for Emily

Doesn't she look beautiful, Emily had her 8th grade formal last night. They had a dinner then awards and a dance for them. It was Emily's first dance. It's hard to believe that she will be in the High School next year. The years certainly did fly. I have learned to treasure each day I have with my kids. Someone once told me(actually lots of people had told me)enjoy them because they grow up so fast, but at the time when your're dealing with diapers, and spitting up all over you and getting up at wee hours in the night, you kind of just look at those people and think yeah right(I'm tired) But coming from experience they do grow up fast, sometimes I wish I could go back to those diaper days o.k. not so much the diapers but the baby experience would be fun.

<

The baby days are over for Miss Emily and now we are in the teen years, alittle challenging but I wouldn't give up one day of them, she is fun to be around.



These are Emily's friends, they are all great girls, I have gotten to now them over the years. They are a group that sticks together and watches over eachother. Friends are great to have.

Personal Testimony

There are days when the past sneaks up behind you and won't leave. There is a reason Jesus died for all man kind, one reason is me, I'm a sinner I have been since the day I was born August 1968 but I was born again July of 95 when I received Jesus into my life. Now I'm a born again believer. A Christain. My soul is in love with Christ. I am nothing without him. I believe Jesus is coming back real soon for his people, my hope is that anybody that reads this is ready. Even though I had invited Christ into my life, my life didn't change dramatically, the Holy Spirit guided me as I grew in Christ, (and I'm still being guided) but sometimes my flesh(wordly thinking & acting) didn't listen and I made some horrible decisions in my life. I'll have to live with them for the rest of my life. But I also know that Jesus forgives and I'm thankful for that. We live in a sinful world, we need to reach out to a hurting world and show them the kindness that Jesus shows us when we make mistakes. I truely felt like the whole world was against me this past week but after realizing that Satan is only trying to bring me down I realized that I needed to lay it down at the foot of the cross where Jesus will pick me back up. So if the past is trying to hinder you look up. Jesus is the only one who will never leave you nor forsake you, He will walk beside you when you feel like your all alone.

Memorable Memorial

Our family had a nice day up until around 5:00 p.m. that night. Fred & Collin were at a friends house. The younger boys were playing with the airsofts guns and Fred and Gary were up at the house talking, it was time to go so Fred had yelled at Collin "lets go" Collin started to run and tripped over some type of bar in the ground and landed on it, he said he had gotten up and felt like his knee was itchy, until he looked down and realized he had split it wide open, around an inch deep and 3 inches wide, Fred took him up to the emergency room and of course for a mom that wasn't there got a phone call "Collin is hurt bad meet me at the hospital" that has to be one of the most dreaded things every to happen to a parent, to watch your child turn white as a ghost and want to know if he is going to die. Collin was so scared and we felt his heart ache. Collin had asked Fred if he would pray while we were waiting for the doctor to come in, I'm glad he did, it made me feel better that Collin wanted God in on this whole procedure also.





We are on day 2 and no signs of infection (Thank God). Poor guy had to get his tetanus shot also, so his arm his hurting him also, but I think he'll be o.k.
He got balloons and candy bars from the church, I think he's feeling better already.

Sign my Guestbook

O.K. I now there have been people that have skimmed thru my blog, if so would you please sign my guestbook, at the end of my page, just to let me now you have been there.
Thanks
The Tuckey's

God is Good

Revive Ministries is a ministry that has started out of the Cass City Missionary Church, about 5 years ago, we started with having Evangelists and music bands come in for a couple of years, then we switched gears to having a funfair and a Evangelist come in which are the Dietzel's right now (pretty special people) look them up they have a great outreach ministry. I have a link to their ministry under my website. Last June we had our first Mobile Food Pantry & the turn out was amazing, you don't realize how bad people are hurting until you come into contact with them, & what a privilege it was to be able to serve our community. As of right now we are are established as a Community Food Pantry in Cass City, in the back of the Millennium Building we have opened a clothing store Friday mornings and we do Food Distributions on the 3rd Saturday of the month. We have had 2 so far and have had a good turn out. We are partnered with the Eastern Food Bank down in Flint and that is were we get probably 90% of our food $1 will buy $14 worth of food I'm amazed at how much we are able to give out each month.


This box was over flowing with lots of good stuff


We had lots of helpers, the community is great at working together


If any one ever wants to donate to a good cause this would be a good one, not only do we give food and clothing but we show the love of Jesus, which is most important

1st track meet

O.K. so my picture taking wasn't all that professional, but Emily ran like a pro at her first track meet of the year, very proud of her she got first place in this run, I forgot what it was that she ran and she is not here to ask her, she is at another meet which I couldn't go to this time, makes me sad because I try to be at as many as I can ,I think it is very important, but I just can't be at all of them. Collin will be starting soccer soon and Jesse baseball(my favorite sport of all time) so I gonna see alot of action this summer. I'm glad my kids like sports, I have been in some sort of sport pretty much all my life.

Spring Break (DC Trip)

For Spring Break we went out to Virginia to see Dan & Andrea's family & Tim & Reba it's great that they only live a couple hours apart so we got to see them all. It was nice to see green grass and flowers & I also had a change to run a couple of warm days, the hills were a challenge, but well worth it. The kids had loads of fun with their cousins and we visited lots of places. Dan & Andrea have a beautiful place by Richmond, Andrea was is Romania on a missions trip while we were at her house, so we didn't get to see her. Tim & Reba live in Fort Monroe so we got to check out all the historic places, like the Fort Monroe Casement Museum, General Lee's quarters,that is where Tim & Reba live as of right now, we got to see the bedroom that Lee's first child was born in. A neat experience for us. Reba took us over to see the USS Wisconsin, then out to a sushi resturant which we all played it save and ate American food, but I'm telling you Tim & Reba are great culinary cooks, we ate some of the best dishes I have ever had, I think it was Tahini food.
We also went over to DC for a day, didn't get to see the White House we didn't venture down that way, but I did get to see the Capitol which is the one thing I wanted to see, it's pretty amazing all that is at DC and that it takes more than one day to see it all, but the best part about it was our family was together and had a great time experiencing it all.
Sitting in front of the Archives


Talk about a close up



This is a tree somewhere in the middle of Jamestown, VA.